As a Reminder to You Here Are Some of KAY S Favorite Activities

As a reminder to you here are some of KAY’s favorite activities. 1. Toe-Ga: Great for focus and developing foot strength and dexterity. Also great for high-energy classes. Please use OUR song from the KAY Music CD.  Take a large bag of pom-poms of various sizes and colors and pour them into the center of your circle or class area.  Everyone starts on their mat.  When the song begins the class runs to the pom-poms and either pushes them with their feet or grabs them with their toes (depending on the age of the class), and takes them back to their mat. This game can be a competition to see who gets the most pom-poms, or the more yogic way to end the game is to say, “Everybody is a winner.” VARIATIONS – Have teams that are assigned to pick up certain colors/sizes. Have students pick up only certain colors of pom-poms.

*WE ALWAYS PLAY ALL MY POM-POM GAMES AFTER TOE-GA BECAUSE THEY ARE OUT.

2. Pom-Pom basketball: Put a bowl in the center of the room and the kids take deep breaths through the nose and blow pom-pom’s from their hands into the basket. To avoid hyperventilating say: “blow one in and throw one in..”

3. Pom-Pom Popper: Just like in old fashioned JACKS.  Teach the kids first without Pom-Poms; hold your hands together in a big cup (cocoon) …then show them how to flip them to the other direction (butterfly)  Start with one Pom-Pom, flipping from the cocoon to the butterfly while keeping the Pom-Pom in their hand. Then try two Pom-Poms and then three….etc.

4. Duck Duck Pose OR YOGI YOGI…..POSE: Kids sit in a circle. One kid gets up and s/he is “A”.  “A” picks the name of the pose, and moves around the circle, i.e. Duck, Duck, Duck…  ”A” tags “B” and says the name of any pose….”Warrior.”  “B” has to run around the circle and catch “A”.  “A” has to run to “Bs” original spot. Or….if “B” catches “A”, “A” goes into the middle. Either way “B” has to show everyone what the “Warrior” pose is. If s/he is right in doing the pose, s/he is the "ducker" If s/he is wrong s/he goes into the middle, and the kid in the middle goes back out and technically that kid would be the ducker again but in all fairness to give everyone a chance you would pick a new ducker. You can change these rules around depending on how you would normally play Duck, Duck, Goose.

5. Yogi Says: (Intention: Focus, Following the rules, Listening skills) Just like Simon says but the kids do not go “out.” This is a GREAT WAY to teach a lot of poses very quickly. So if you feel for some reason you haven’t learned enough poses in your class you throw this in. Instead of saying “you’re out” we point with the elbow and make a silly sound. Nobody is ever really out.

6. Trees Tag: (Intention: Great opportunity for some cardio! Balance.) Just like Freeze tag, must be played outside or in a large room. When frozen children go into the Tree pose until untagged by another player.

7. “I went to visit my grandmother . . .” (Intention: Memory) “… and I taught her the crow pose!” Next child says: “I went to visit my grandmother and I taught her the crow and the tree…” etc.

8. Red Light, Green Light…. Tree: I call this Red, Light, Green Light and I let each child in each round choose “their” pose. They can choose Tree, Eagle, or Dancer ONLY standing balancing poses. The “it” person stands in front of the room and says: “My pose is the tree ….” And then they start with the traditional….”red light”….or “green light”….etc. (Variation: we like to use yellow light: for crawl and brown light: for hop)

9. Yoga-Lympics: Put a different activity on each mat and each kid moves from one mat to the other. Put music on and when you turn the music off they have to switch! Ideas for what to put on each mat:  Yoga deck card…you can use many of these  Tibetan bowl or Tingshas  move pom-poms from one side of mat to other with their feet  lay in corpse pose  Musical instruments…2 or 3 on a mat  Jumping jacks or Jump Jump Pose  5 donkey kicks/savasana/5 jumping jacks/savasana  Malas  Pom-Poms or just cards suggesting an activity to do on that mat… i.e. sal to sun.

10. KOO KOO HEAD (Intention: teach the need for meditation.) In the beginning of class all the kids and the teacher….say aloud, everything they did that day from the moment they woke up until now (for 30 seconds) and then the teacher says: “This is Koo Koo head, and it’s what happens if you never learn how to meditate.” Funny every time!

11. Joggin’ through the Jungle: (Intention: Increase heartbeat/cardio) Say: “First we will jog through the jungle. Stand up and begin jogging. Lift your knees high and breathe deep. We are jogging through the thick jungle. Let’s keep jogging for a few more seconds. Jan, what do you see in the jungle?” Whatever pose Jan sees in the Jungle the class will instantly move into that pose until the teacher directs them back to jogging through the jungle and calls on someone else. (Lion/snake/camel/warrior with a bow and arrow, etc.) Or you direct the poses based on what you need to teach that day. (Tip: For really large classes have the kids in the circle and have all the girls run in the middle of the circle and have the boys run on the outside; running back to the mat to do the pose.) Potential BLIS: “I used to live in a jungle and I would sit on my front porch and one day I saw a LION and I had to run from the LION….then we jog through the jungle. (Tip: try using the KAY CDs)

12. Pass the Orange: Sitting in a circle an orange or an orange ball is passed by holding it with the feet and passing to the other person’s feet. We like to say while we are passing: “ORANGE you grateful for...”

13. Tight rope relays: Using the straps do teams of two or more and line up at least two straps.  Each kid puts a beanie animal on their head and walks the tightrope while picking up pom-poms with their feet, putting them in their hand without looking down and walking to the other side to meet the next team player.

14. A-MAZE-Ing Asanas: Take 8 straps and create a MAZE that you walk through. The kids walk with beanie’s on their heads and at the corner they have to strike a pose!

14. Choo-Choo Tushy Walk: (Intention: Great for motor skills/left right brain coordination)  Pick partners and have them sit across from each other in the room.  When the teacher says “GO” one side of the room has to scoot on their tushies without their arms touching the ground.  Then they tag them and it’s their turn. If the child touches the ground they are “supposed” to go back but we don’t like to do that so decide how strict you want to be; maybe they go back two steps?

15. The Plough Pass (two versions!)  Make two lines of kids spaced apart generously.  Get two small balls. The first person at the front of the line puts the ball in between their feet and moves into the plough pose and passes the ball backwards and so on and so on... the last person goes into the Plough pose and then runs to the front and starts over or the last person passes it back up the line. (Tip: Make sure everyone is spaced properly so nobody gets a bloody nose!) (KAY personal favorite: Have the kids sit in a TIGHT circle with their legs straight out toes touching. The teacher holds the ball first: everyone says together: “Do the plough, Do the plough, pass to “next person” and take a bow.” You don’t talk during the pose so you say the first part, then do the pose THEN say who you pass it to. Tons of fun!

16. Sherlock OMMMMs:  Kids stand in a big circle. One child becomes the detective, Sherlock OMM.  The teacher puts him/her in the middle of the circle, covers his/her eyes, and points to the first BOSS.  The BOSS chooses a yoga posture and they all follow as quickly as possible. They must be clever and NOT stare at the BOSS.  The BOSS has to change the poses every 5-10 seconds.  Then Sherlock OMMM opens his/her eyes. The kids are already moving from one pose to another. All the children start chanting “SHERLOCK OMMMMMM…SHERLOCK OMMMMMM”.  Sherlock OMMM stands in the middle of the circle and has to find out who is the boss. (Tip: Use the magnifying glass from your Bag of Tricks so Sherlock can act out his role.)  The BOSS changes the yoga postures of course when Sherlock OMM is not looking and the other children have to imitate him as quickly as possible, in order not to betray him.  When the BOSS is discovered, he picks the next boss and Sherlock picks the next Sherlock. Every kid should get a turn.

17. Slither through the Dog Tunnel (dogs and snakes): Downward dogs lined up hip to hip – snake slithers through on belly as dogs bark. The last person in line becomes the snake. And they all follow slithering through the tunnel.

18. Freeze Dance with Yoga poses: Music is being played – stop when music stops – after stopping, find a yoga pose.

19. Big Wind Blows: Everyone stands on a mat in a BIG circle…the farther away the better.  Take your mat and stand in the center.  The teacher is “THE BIG WIND” say: “My pose is the EAGLE (you choose your pose)….The Big Wind Blows anybody who has been to California.” or “The Big Wind Blows anybody who likes pizza.  Everybody whom the statement pertains to runs to a new mat (but NOT the one on either side of them!)  One person is always left without a mat so that person becomes THE BIG WIND. Come up with some funny stuff like: “The Big Wind Blows anybody who hasn’t showered for a week.” To be fair try to make sure everybody gets a turn. If a child gets chosen twice they have to pick someone else. This is a GREAT GAME…play it outside on a beautiful day in a BIG circle… it’s fabulous with LOTS of kids.

20. It’s SIIIIIILLLLLLY STORY TIME!: The teacher announces in a VERY dramatic manner: It’s SIIIIIILLLLY Story time….eventually the kids will get this and know what to do. The teacher starts out with a very silly line to start the story: “Once upon a time there was a DOLPHIN sitting at home knitting a scarf”…and of course everyone does the Dolphin pose….then the next kid adds to the story. They have 20 seconds to add on or they pass. It doesn’t have to make sense…it’s a SILLY STORY. The teacher ends the story by using that same dramatic tone and wraps up the story by saying “and that folks was a very silly story”.

21. Make a Pizza: Sit in a circle straddle position, feet to feet. Make the motions of mixing dough, spreading sauce, putting on toppings, etc.

22. Make a Sandwich: Sit in staff position with arms up. Inhale/exhale and say the name of your sandwich as you come into forward bend.

23. Really Stinky Feet: Begin class just after kids take off their shoes by walking around with your lavender spray and spraying everyone’s feet while playing “The Really Stinky Feet” song. Kids will get a real kick out of this! We like to do it in Shoulder stand and always reminding them to CLOSE THEIR EYES!

24. TV Watching Pose: Go around the room and find out what everybody is watching…have fun with it! Encourage educational shows but be prepared for a lot of Sponge Bob Square pants! We use this all the time and especially as a BLIS: (animal planet)

25. Boo-Boo Chant: “Ommmmm heal Sarah’s boo-boo!” When a child is hurt/crying; round everyone up and put your hand on or near the boo-boo. Everyone joins in and we chant “Ommmmm, heal Sarah’s boo-boo!” You will soon find out just how serious the boo-boo is.

26. Flying Pose: Where is everybody flying to? Exhale down, inhale yell out where you are flying to! Make sandwiches first and then fly somewhere to feed the homeless. 27. Tibetan Bells/Tingshas: Practicing mindfulness. This is very challenging but will really calm your kids down for a few minutes!  Sit in a circle and pick up the Tibetan Bells.  Ding them three times, and then pass them to the person to their right by placing them on the floor in front of them.  The next person does the same and make sure they ONLY ding three times! (Tip: Use KAY music.)

28. Giggle Snake:  Lying in a zig-zag formation with head on the belly of the person before you.  Start to laugh together – as you laugh your head also feels the person you are laying on laughing.

29. Play Teacher: Using a yoga card deck, each child picks a card and teaches the pose, based on what is written on the card. (Works best with older kids, ages 8 and up.)

30. The Talking Stick: Importance of the talking stick has been used for centuries by many American Indian tribes as a means of just and impartial hearing. The talking stick was commonly used in council circles to designate who had the right to speak. Use in opening or closing circles: to learn your kids names, to get them to quiet down or to share their joy of Yoga with everyone.